Hartford Family Foundation Annual Meeting and Family Reunion
The 2008 annual meeting of The Hartford Family Foundation was held in conjunction with the annual Hartford Family Reunion, June 27, 28, 29 in New York City. The John A. Hartford Foundation hosted the foundation meeting in their corporate offices. Activities included a reception at The New York Yacht Club, a dinner at the Algonquin Hotel, and a ride on the wooden yacht Manhattan. Over 30 family and foundation members in attendance had a wonderful time.

Huntington Hartford, dies at age 97
George Huntington Hartford II, grandson of George Huntington Hartford, the founder of the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, died May 19, 2008 at his home in Lyford Cay in the Bahamas. His father Edward Hartford died in 1922, leaving his share of the A&P legacy to his two children: Josephine and Huntington, then 12.  Hunt   graduated from Harvard in 1934. He worked a brief stint at the A&P. Huntington was married four times and led a colorful life as an entreprenuer, writer, arts patron and man of leisure. Among his many accomplishments was the purchase in 1959 of most all of Paradise Island in the Bahamas, where The Beatles filmed HELP. Huntington leaves a daughter Juliet, and a son John. Another daughter, Catherine, died in 1988.

Hartford Family News Update (excerpted from the 2008 Newsletter)

Congratulation go out to Chee Chee and Charlie McGinnes. Their horse farm, “Thornmar”, in Chestertown, MD was named a leading breeder in Maryland for the highest number of winners in 2006. They are ranked in the top fifty breeders in the nation.

Tripler Pell and husband, Tawfik Hammoud are the proud parents of Elias Hartford Hammoud and his little sister Marina. Tripler is the daughter of Christopher & Janet Pell of Newport, RI. Tripler is a physician finishing her residency training in family medicine. Tawfik is working for Boston Consulting Group. Elias is learning the alphabet, Marina is learning to crawl, and their puppy is learning not to jump on all of them.

Anne & Walter Meier of Spring Island, SC sent a Christmas card with photos of their children and grandchildren. The Linnartz family of New Canaan, CT are shown at right. Victoria (Meier) and John are standing with their children, Olivia and Jack. The Meiers’ son Charlie, is shown at left with his wife April and their children, Lily and Deacon. They live in Mt. Pleasant, S.C.

Crystal Duell Munson, daughter of Rachel and John Duell of Cutchogue, NY, and her husband, Michael became the proud parents of Lucy Vail Munson on November 16, 2005. Crystal owns C-Duell Arts Gallery and works as an independent art agent in Boston. Michael is a vice president of Wealth Management with Mellon Bank in Boston. The couple, along with their 13-year-old daughter, Emilie, reside in Duxbury.

Winsome and Michael McIntosh, shown here celebrating with their family, are full of wonderful news of their three sons: Hunter and Amber McIntosh were married on September 23, 2006. The couple reside in Alexandria, VA and are expecting their first child, a little girl, in March of’08. Mark and Barbara McIntosh welcomed their first child, Ayson Francisco, on April 22 of this year. It is fitting that he was born on Earth Day since his mother is in-house counsel for the League of Conservation Voters and his father is an executive with the National Environmental Trust. Youngest son, Colin, recently graduated with a Masters Degree from the Institute for World Politics in Wash., D.C.

H.F.F. Trustee, Bud Lewis, has moved with his wife Bert to Salado, Texas. They moved from their long-time home in Ridgewood, NJ to be near their son, daughter-in-law and adorable twin granddaughters, pictured at right. Lisa (at left) and Katie are two years old.

Juliet Hartford, youngest daughter of Huntington Hartford, sends regards from Lyford Cay, where she and her father are well and happy, living in the Bahamas. Huntington will celebrate his 97th birthday in April.

Lorri and Bill Gibson have been keeping busy travelling the globe. In July, they celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary by cruising to Scandinavia and Russia aboard the Seabourn Pride. In September, they travelled to England, visiting Devon and Cornwall. On their last night in G.B. they stayed at Oakley Court where the Rocky Horror Picture Show was filmed. Bill has been scuba diving in Palau where he visited the Marine Memorial, built in memory of Lorri’s father, Robert W. Besch. It is located on the island of Pelilu where Captain Besch fought with the 1st Marine Division during World War II. A retired special education teacher, Lorri is now involved with the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC. When stateside, they are busy decorating their new home in Bernardsville, NJ.

Hartford Family News (excerpted from the 2006 Newsletter)

Finnley William Walter Robertson was born to H.F.F. Trustee, Geoff Robertson and his wife Julie on April 13, 2005. Finn and his parents and older brother, Sammis, reside in Stowe, VT. His paternal grandparents are William and Maud Robertson of Naples, FL and Huntington, NY. Welcome to the family Finnley!

Crystal Duell, daughter of Rachel and John Duell of Cutchogue, NY, married Michael Munson on January 15, 2005 in Duxbury, MA. Rachel, a St. Lawrence University graduate, owns C-Duell Arts Gallery and works as an independent art agent in Boston. Michael is a vice president of Wealth Management with Mellon Bank in Boston. The couple, along with Michael’s 10-year-old daughter, Emilie, reside in Duxbury.

Nuala and Claiborne Pell were blessed with two new great-grandchildren since our last newsletter went to press. Tripler Pell and husband, Tawfik Hammoud became the proud parents of Elias Hartford Hammoud on December 7, 2004. Tripler is the daughter of Christopher & Janet Pell of Newport, RI. And little Nuala Anna Irene was born to Christina and Sean Randall of Memphis, TN on June 9, 2005. Christie is the daughter of Eugenia Pell of Tucson and the late Bertie Pell.

H.F.F. has moved from its current storage facility to a newer, more secure facility in Red Bank, NJ. The move will give Avis Anderson better access to the archival collection as she assumes the added responsibilities of her new position as Executive Director of the Monmouth Museum. Many of you visited Monmouth Museum when it hosted our popular exhibit, A&P In American Life. Avis will continue to supervise H.F.F. activities and maintain the archive.

Lily Redding Meier was born to April and Charlie Meier on February 24, 2005. Lily’s paternal grandparents are Anne Robertson and Walter Meier of Spring Island, SC. Charlie, April and cute little Lily reside in Mt. Pleasant, SC.

Support
Our thanks go to the following family foundations which keep H.F.F. operating: The Banbury Fund, courtesy of Bill Robertson and Anne Robertson Meier; The John A. Hartford Foundation, courtesy of matching grants from Nuala and Toby Pell; The Wrightson-Ramsing Foundation, courtesy of Thor Ramsing; The McIntosh Foundation; and The Wrightson-Besch Foundation, courtesy of Lorri Besch Gibson and Jeff Wrightson. We appreciate the help we receive from these foundations and also the support of our many individual members.

Membership
H.F.F. membership is now paid on an annual basis. Membership applications for the year 2008 can be downloaded from this link (and can also be found in the current newsletter). Please continue to support our programs and activities by paying your annual membership dues.

HFF Newsletter
To be placed on H.F.F.'s mailing list and receive a copy of our current newsletter, please contact Executive Director Avis Anderson.